INTRODUCTION

TO 10 METER AIR
PISTOL SHOOTING
BY RONAK PANDIT

CO-AUTHORED BY ANGAD ARNEJA



















AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE
INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ronak Pandit

Coach Ronak Pandit

stands proudly
alongside student
Heena Sidhu (former
world number 1)

Ronak Pandit started his career in shooting at the age of 13. However, the first shot he
ever fired was with an air pistol by sitting on his fathers (Ashok Pandit, Arjuna
Awardee) lap at the age of 3. In 2011, Ronak founded the pistol shooting academy
Ronak Pandit Shooting Centre, which aims to impart professional knowledge to
shooting enthusiasts.

At present, Ronak is one of the most successful coach in India in the sport of pistol
shooting. He has personal competitive experience of over a decade at the international
competitions (including medals and records at the Commonwealth and Asian Games)
and he is now translating that experience into medal winning performances at the
highest level by his students. Some notable achievements by Ronaks students include:

Participation in 2 consecutive Olympic Games London 2012 and Rio 2016

World Record in 10m Air Pistol women event in 2013
World Rank 1 in 10m Air Pistol women event in 2014
1 Gold and 2 Silver medals at World Cups
Finalist at 6 World Cups

1 Gold medal in 20th Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, Scotland

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

Angad Arneja

Angad (right) receives a

medal at the 34th
Maharashtra State Shooting
Championships

Angad is currently an IB Diploma student in the 12th grade at the Dhirubhai Ambani
International School, Mumbai. He began pistol shooting when he was 13 years old and
has been a student of coach Ronak Pandit since 2014. A bright student, he knew how
to make academics and sports complement each other and has achieved several
accolades in pistol shooting. His achievements include:

Gold medal at the 60th SGFI National School Games in the U-17 category
Gold medal at the Inter-School Maharashtra State Championships in the U-17
category
Qualified for and participated in the Indian Team Selection Trials in Air,
Standard and Sports Pistol

Angad has also been working part-time as an Assistant Coach at Ronak Pandit
Shooting Centre.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

Table of Contents
FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR 5

LESSON 2 STANCE AND HEAD POSITION 7

LESSON 6 - GRIPPING THE PISTOL 9

LESSON 7 - POSITION OF THE FINGER ON THE TRIGGER 11

LESSON 4 - SIGHT ALIGNMENT 13

LESSON -5 MUSCLE TONE 15

LESSON 1 NO AIMING! FOCUS ON SIGHTS 17

LESSON 3- FOLLOW THROUGH 19

CONCLUSION 21

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

Foreword by Coach Ronak Pandit

Many people have told me I should not openly
explain the technique of a good shot otherwise
people will stop coming to me for advice. On the
looks of it, yes makes sense. But then I thought if
a child starts reading a book on science, it will
only develop his interest in the subject. Finally,
to become an engineer he will need a teacher who
can explain the concepts, answer the zillion
questions, clarify doubts, have healthy
discussions and finally show the correct path of
doing things that are written in the book. So here
I am sharing with you all my knowledge of the
technique of a good shot.

What is a good shot? No it is not a ten. That is where most people make the mistake;
they associate the result with the shot. A good shot is not necessarily a ten. At least in
pistol shooting it is not. Many a times some of my best shots were in the 9th ring! Why
a good shot may sometime not be a 10 can have a million reasons and these are the
reasons which will distract you from the technique and then over a period of time you
would be a lost shooter who will wonder there was a time when shooting was so easy.

Shooting is an unbelievably easy sport. It is us who complicate it. The grip, the trigger
pressure, the ammunition or pellets, the light, etc. nothing matters. Yes if anything is
causing considerable physical discomfort then it needs attention, but otherwise they
are all gimmicks and excuses. And finally every sport is a business, people need to sell
products. They market the fancy customised grips, ear plugs, shooting glasses,
shooting shoes, even sports drinks! But let me assure you, the best performances come
from shooters who do not get into all this. The manufacturers pay the top shooters to
use their products so that they can market them, but the top shooters have not become
top shooters because they use those products.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

Ok so what is the shooting technique? In film shooting they say Lights, Camera,
Action! In pistol shooting we say Muscle ton, Sights, Trigger. That is it. That is how
easy a good shot is. Focus on anything else and you will be digging your own grave. So
now lets talk about these three parameters in depth.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON 1 - STANCE AND HEAD POSITION

Stance in pistol shooting should have only two objectives stability and comfort.

A stance should be such that it offers good body stability and minimizes body sway,
and it should be comfortable to stand in that position for long since shooting is a static
sport. Stance differs from person to person as everybody is different. But here are some
basic parameters which can help a person gain clarity about stance:

The feet should be kept approximately shoulder width apart and must
preferably be parallel to each other or slightly opened outwards. The body must
be facing perpendicular to the target.

It is advisable to not twist the body to face the target, only the neck must be
turned towards the target. So stand straight with feet as explained above and
look perpendicular to the target. Before raising your arm to shoot, just turn your
neck and not the body. A twisted body will be itching to go back to its natural
position and will not be conducive for standing long durations.

If the neck cannot turn 90 degrees comfortably, then simply change the angle
of your body along with feet towards the target. One must ensure that neither
the neck nor any other part of the body is strained. So for example, if the neck
can turn only 60 degrees then compensate by changing the angle of the body by
30 degrees towards the target. Please change the angle of the body along with
the feet and not just twist your upper body.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

The closer the angle of your body against the target is to 90 degrees, i.e. body
perpendicular to the target and neck turning 90 degrees towards the target, the
better can be your stability. The human anatomy is such that in this position,
the shoulder and back can work independently thereby aiding stability of arm.

However, straining your neck too much can be more disadvantageous so do not
force yourself to stand at 90 degrees from the target. Find the angle which is
comfortable for you. With proper neck exercises and stretches, you can train
your neck to turn 90 degrees and stand perpendicular to the target.

The head must be straight and not angled upwards or downwards

unnecessarily. The back of the neck should neither be stretched (looking
downwards) nor compressed (looking upwards). As far as possible you should
be looking from the centre of your eye and not from the corner.

Please be aware that we need time to adjust to anything new, whether it is good or bad.
Hence, do not change your stance on every few shots. It isnt the stance that will shoot
good shots for you so just find a position that is comfortable for you and pay attention
on the actual shooting (sight alignment, trigger squeeze) to get good results.

Also, no top pistol shooter in the world gives too much attention to stance. They know
a position they are comfortable in and just take that position every time they shoot. If
need be, they even alter their positions. So keep your mind open and listen to your
body. The best way of finding a suitable stance for yourself could be by listening a little
more to your common sense than someone else you are expected to know your body
better than a so called expert! Do not stand on the firing line trying to align your arm
in line with the target with your eyes closed it is nothing but a good joke for the
onlookers!

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON 2 - GRIPPING THE PISTOL

Gripping the pistol correctly is important because quite a lot of your accuracy would
depend on how well you can grip your pistol every time.

Gripping well does not mean gripping tightly. Gripping well means gripping
in the same way every time and adding the same pressure on the grip for
every shot.

The grip must be such that it does not hurt or poke any part of the hand and
also it should be easy to grip in the same manner every time.

It must not be too tight neither should it be too loose.

The grip must be fully in contact with the hand but the pressure must be
exerted in only front to back direction and only from 2 areas.

A forward pressure must be applied from the area between the thumb and
the index finger. And, a backward pressure must be applied from the middle
of the other three fingers.

A good comfortable grip will allow you to follow the technique more
effectively.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

A good grip is important, but it is not the answer to all your shooting
problems. As long as it does not hurt or poke you, it is fine.

Finally it is up to the shooter to train the muscles of his hand to add

consistent pressure on the grip for every shot. Also, this pressure which is
exerted on the grip must be the same throughout the shot and must not
change.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON 3 - POSITION OF THE FINGER ON THE TRIGGER

The position of the trigger on the trigger finger is very crucial in being able to maintain
the accuracy in shooting.

The main thing here is that the trigger should be pulled straight backwards
without any sideways pressure, in a straight line like from 12o clock to 6o clock
in a watch.

If the trigger is not pulled straight backwards, then the sideways pressure could
impact the accuracy.

For example, instead of straight backward pressure if the pressure is exerted a

little from right to left backwards (like from 2o clock to 8o clock), then there is
a high possibility that as you add pressure on the trigger, the angular pressure
may cause the front sight to shift a little towards the left and consequently the
shot might hit on the left of the target.

The position of the shoe may be anywhere in between as show in the figures (a)
and (b) in the photo below.

The position of the trigger in the above two figures are the extreme positions,
and the trigger must not go beyond these positions.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

Again, it is a very individual choice where a person likes his trigger to be, and
as long as that position falls in between these two extremes as shown above, it
is alright.

Finally, what is more important is that the trigger is being pulled smoothly and
straight backwards.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON 4 - SIGHT ALIGNMENT

The sight alignment is very crucial in being able to maintain the accuracy in shooting.

The back sight is the sight which is just above the grip. It has a gap in the
centre in which we must align the front sight as shown in the attached
picture.

The front sight is a standing bar above the farthest edge of the barrel. This
is the point where the bullet exits the barrel and the direction of this point
determines where the bullet will hit.

The sights must be aligned as shown in the picture below, so that the bullet
hits where the front sight is pointing.

If the front sight is not aligned as shown in the figure, the bullet will not hit
where the front sight alone points due to the angle of the barrel in the
direction in which the sight is pointing.

Also if you look closely at the picture, you will see that the front sight looks
clear while the rear sight is hazy.

That is how it should look when we align our sights. This is because the focus
of our eye should be on the front sight, while the rear sight is just visible in
our peripheral vision for reference.

The focus must be on front sight at all times, not on the back sight and
NEVER on the target. 10. We must not try and see the back sight or the
target.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

In some cases, shooters may find that their front sight picture is never clear.
This occurs because of uneven artificial indoor lighting in the 10m range.

In such cases, DO NOT worry about the clarity of your sight picture. As long
as you can make out your sight alignment, you can continue with an unclear
image.

Worrying and trying to get a clear image of your sight picture will damage
your accuracy more than the unclear sight picture itself.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON -5 MUSCLE TONE

Muscle tone means the muscle tension. Every shooter has his own way of gripping and
holding the pistol. Some grip it tight, some grip it loose.

Gripping too tight, to the extent where it starts vibrating is as bad as gripping so
loose that you feel no control.

Anything in between is fine. The pistol must be held firmly, not tightly. The level
of firmness can vary from person to person. It should only be that firm that it
gives a sense of the pistol being in the control of the shooter and not vice versa.

More important than the extent of firmness is that this firmness should remain
consistent during the shot and for every shot.

The arm or the pressure on the grip must not get tighter or looser while you are
shooting the shot, it must remain the same like a statue.

And when the muscle tone remains the same, the wrist also remains locked in its
position.

It is interesting to note that this problem occurs only when the trigger is being
pressed. If a shooter was holding without wishing to press the trigger, the muscle
tension would remain constant.

Only when the trigger finger is adding pressure on the trigger, muscle tone tends
to vary. And continuing with such a shot is teaching bad habits to your
subconscious. Whenever the muscle tone changes, simply cancel the shot.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

As shooters we tend to manipulate muscle tension to be able to execute a shot

which we are unable to execute for whatever reasons.

But this is exactly what stops us from becoming champions, we manipulate our
technique and if we get a 10 with such manipulation, we are happy.

We do not realize that this is the beginning of the end. We need to have strong
self-discipline so that we accept shot executions only through correct technique
and do not pamper ourselves with fake results.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON 6 - FOCUS ON SIGHTS! NO AIMING

No aiming? How can that be? That is what you are thinking, right? But well aiming is
the root cause of all problems in pistol shooting. Aiming is what makes it difficult to
squeeze the trigger, to keep the wrist fixed and aiming also makes it difficult for you
to look at your sights!

It is human nature to be greedy, to want more that what is. Everybody wants to be
perfect and that is why people are always trying to see whether they are aiming
perfectly or not. They want the shot to fire when the sights are perfectly aligned and
stop at that perfect spot on the target, in the centre of their aiming area, that exact
point.

Now what happens when one wishes or tries to shoot this perfectly? One jerks the
trigger. But hold on, why jerk? Didnt the shooter want to shoot a perfect shot? That
means perfect aim and perfect trigger squeeze, then why this jerk? Because we forget
that we are humans, not machines. Our hand cannot ever achieve perfect stability and
will always move. We can never stop the gun or have sights aligned at that perfect point
on the target for long enough where we can squeeze the trigger smoothly. The
movement of the hand does not give us enough time to make use of the opportunity
when the hand is crossing that perfect spot and hence we end up jerking, in the
attempt to grab the opportunity of shooting the shot when the sights were crossing
that perfect spot on the target.

Another grave mistake that the shooter ends up making is that in trying to be perfect
on the target, the focus is more on where the front sight is on the target and not really
on the sight alignment. Therefore, the alignment between the back and front sight gets
disturbed. This causes a major angular mistake and the gun is actually pointing
elsewhere.

So what happens in either of the above scenarios? The shot lands miles away from
where the shooter thought he had executed.

Now what should you do?

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

You should only maintain the sight alignment in your aiming area and keep adding
pressure on the trigger while your arm is moving within acceptable limits, and enjoy
this process of smooth continuous pressure on trigger along with your stability. The
shot will fire whenever it has to fire. You cannot and must not dictate when or
where the shot should fire.

Of course your arm is moving and the shot could fire when your arm was high or low
of left or right. THAT IS FINE! As long as the shot is fired within this movement of
your arm, it is a good shot. Do not associate a good shot with the result. As long as the
size of your shot group is the same as the size of your stability, the result will be
excellent. Some of my best shots have been 9s. Trust me, you are lot steadier than you
think you are.

Think logically, would you not get all 10.9 if you kept shooting at that perfect point
every time? Has it ever happened? How many times have you got a bad result trying
to shoot perfectly as compared to when you just shot without thinking much?
Therefore, let us not get too greedy and be ok with few tens and few nines to start with.

So, it is not important where you shoot. You should only have a consistent area
and not an exact point where you wish to execute the shots. Do not aim or
try to be precise.

The key to becoming a good shooter is not to try to shoot tens or bullseyes, it is to make
sure that you continuously press the trigger smoothly without controlling when or
where the shoot should fire. As long as all the shots that you shoot are within the
movement of your arm, it is good shooting!

With more training, you will improve the coordination, and will have majority of your
shots in ten or bullseye but in reality your stability or the extent of the movement of
your arm will be greater than the tenth ring. Please do not come in your own way by
trying to control everything. Let things happen and enjoy this process.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

LESSON 7- FOLLOW THROUGH

There are so many hardworking and talented shooters who at times have no answer to
what is going wrong with their shooting. When things dont go their way, they become
even more desperate and want to see where the shot hit immediately upon the firing
of the shot. So much so that many a times I have seen a shooter shoot the shot and has
his eyes on the target or at the screen while his hand is still holding the gun pointing
at the target. Come on, relax at least lower your arm and rest it before trying to see
the result. Watch the result after 5 seconds. The shot isnt going anywhere!

One simple thing that can actually help such stumped shooters is follow through.

Follow through is a very important part of the technique. It plays a triple role:
It helps to keep your mind on the process and not on the moment of shot.
It serves as an indicator whether you could keep your mind on the process for
that particular shot or not.
It sets a base for the next shot.

Follow through is often mistaken to be just holding the gun after the shot has been
fired. No! That is plain dumb. It is a lot more than that because a follow through is a
crucial aspect needed to complete the process of a shot.

What a shooter should do for a good shot is squeeze the trigger smoothly and
continuously while maintaining constant muscle tension of the arm and letting the
shot fire anywhere anytime within his stability i.e movement of his arm. The shooter
should continue this till his trigger shoe does not go back any further. The shot would
have gotten fired a few seconds earlier and that moment when the shot was fired
should be absolutely irrelevant. If you start thinking or focusing on when the shot
will fire, then involuntarily you will end up controlling or correcting your stability
and aiming to get that perfect shot. Thereby, you mess up a good clean execution.

The firing of the shot must not be treated as the end of the process of execution of the
shot. The shot gets fired somewhere in the middle of our process and our focus at all
times must be on continuing our process till the end of the movement of trigger.

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INTRODUCTION TO AIR PISTOL - AN INITIATIVE BY RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

All aspects of your shot must be maintained till the end of follow through. This includes
the muscle tension of the arm, pressure on the grip, stability, sight alignment, trigger
squeeze, breathing and your tranquility. The firing of the shot must not cause any
change or difference to you. You should be completely oblivious or unaware of the
firing of the shot. Only then will your shot truly hit where the gun was pointing.

In case you put your gun down immediately or your eyes jump to the target or screen
immediately upon firing of the shot, it means you were focused on hitting a ten rather
than following the process.

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Conclusion

If you are able to stick to just these points, you will improve rapidly and
will enjoy the sport. Otherwise, you will get lost in finding your answers
in your equipment whereas you yourself will be the problem.

Always remember, it is the shooter who shoots the gun. So improve the
shooter in you, not the gun.

ABOUT RONAK PANDIT SHOOTING CENTRE

Ronak Pandit Shooting Centre (RPSC) is an initiative by

Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Ronak Pandit to impart
professional knowledge and support to shooting enthusiasts.

RPSC has centres in Mumbai at Worli, Goregaon and Thane. We

also have a centre in Pune and are continually expanding to various
other locations.

More information regarding coaching, fees and timings can be obtained:

From our Facebook Page :

https://www.facebook.com/ronakpanditshootingcentre

By contacting Assistant Coach Jaydeep Tailor at +91 9967307072

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